HD Upgrade without HD TV's

[nstraughn@yahoo.com]

In a new installation, as I stated above, the installer will go to GREAT lengths to avoid the attic, crawl spaces, or fishing between walls. If you're picky about which holes get drilled where, you're best doing it yourself before the installer gets there, allowing him to focus on getting the signal into your house and the receiver programmed properly.

:up
Agree 100%
Been installing for 4 years now and that's the worst that a customer can do. Be to picky. I get that some customers want there install a certain way. A good installer will give you many options on where the dish needs to go or how to run the sat lines. What I've learned in the past is good communication with the customer goes a long way when your in there house. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[CowboyDren]

Am I just lucky, or have times changed?

Little bit of both. You probably got a good one back in the day, and Good Ones are still out there, but it's a crapshoot.

All the wiring is in place and holes drilled, etc. in a house I'm going to move in. I don't want an installer telling me I need to rewire the whole house. The cable wiring was probably put in around 18 years ago.

Well, if it's 2GHz RG6 (scoff), you're fine. If it's not, he's going to tell you that the cable's not good enough for HD satellite signals, and he's well within his protocols to either replace each wire drop individually or start fresh and piss off your landlord. Hope for the best (2GHz RG6 in place), but prepare for the worst. Try to contact the installer before he gets to your house, and explain that it's a rental property with an old distribution network in place.

 

[Super New Mexico Tech]

As an installer, I will not put in HD receivers without the HD TV's there. This is because customers will not know how to connect the HD TV's, when they get them, and they call dish for help. Often the CSR will just hit the tech with a TC. All TC's are the techs fault according the DNS.

 

[CowboyDren]

That's silly. Call me a geek, but running a single cable from the HDMI output of a DVR to the HDMI input of a TV just doesn't strike me as being that hard.

[EDIT]

Sorry, that was harsh and dismissive. I respect your reservations as an installer, but do you at least try to feel out the customer and their experience/comfort level before you refuse to do the work?

 

[Fiveft20in]

I ended up taking back 3 seperate HDTVs because I didnt like how the picture was.I finally settled for a Sylvania

I have to ask: If you finally settled for a Sylvania, what were the three that you took back?

 

[Super New Mexico Tech]

To CowboyDren:

Of course I do. If the customer is knowlegable and knows what's what, I'll do the work. If, however, I looks like a potential TC, I put the WO on hold, until they are ready. Remember, ALL TC's are the techs fault according to DNS. TC's will cause less pay to the tech. If you get too many, you will be fired.

 

[AdamGott]

My opinion is that if you are expecting to upgrade to an HDTV soon (within a year) you should go ahead and get HD service. It looks much better on SD tv's than compared to Dish's usually subpar SD. To me it is worth the extra money.

If an installer refused to install an HDTV receiver at my house because I didn't have an HDTV I would politely ask them to leave and find one that better understands the customer/seller relationship.

I had my Dish(es) (3 Dish 500's!) installed about four years ago and that guy was really close to getting his not-so polite invitation to leave - he wanted to install the dish(es) at eye level on the FRONT OF MY GARAGE and then he wanted to use some thing cable to route the dish feed to the sat receiver THROUGH MY BASEMENT WINDOW. Amazing....

 

[newriver99]

When I first posted this question I really wanted to know if Dish would let me have the 722 and 612 receivers before I had the HD Tvs's. I wanted to be all set for when I get the HD Tv's. I will be buying two new plasma's at different times because the different sizes will not be coming out at the same time. Also I want to be sure that I"ll be able to have HD service the day I do get them. That way I'll be able to watch HD during the crucial 30 day trial period.

 

[Super New Mexico Tech]

To AdamGott:

I don't sell anything. I hate selling stuff, so I don't. I learned that most people who sell stuff will tell the customer anything to make the sale, even if it is a lie.

 

[Sooner02]

Well, if it's 2GHz RG6 (scoff), you're fine. If it's not, he's going to tell you that the cable's not good enough for HD satellite signals, and he's well within his protocols to either replace each wire drop individually or start fresh and piss off your landlord. Hope for the best (2GHz RG6 in place), but prepare for the worst. Try to contact the installer before he gets to your house, and explain that it's a rental property with an old distribution network in place.

The cable is RG59/U. What is the big difference, and can it still be used?

 

[CowboyDren]

Gauge of the conductor (RG6 is bigger) and quality of the conductor (is or is not guaranteed to carry frequencies up to 2GHz within limits of loss). I'm not sure why the size matters other than a bigger conductor is generally more durable. The ability to pass 2GHz frequencies is important because the LNBs are receiving signals in that spectrum for HD programming, and if the conductor can't pass it, you wind up with poor reception if you can even get the channels at all.

A buddy of mine is an installer, and he says that he'll get written up if not fired for using RG59, whether it was already in place or not. Is there a multiswitch in place? How many drops are you going to ask for? Is this indeed a rental property? Try to get in touch with your installer tech.

 

[Sooner02]

A buddy of mine is an installer, and he says that he'll get written up if not fired for using RG59, whether it was already in place or not. Is there a multiswitch in place? How many drops are you going to ask for? Is this indeed a rental property? Try to get in touch with your installer tech.

There is no multiswitch, it's just a house that had cable. It's not a rental, and there are four drops.

 

[CowboyDren]

A single 1000.x dish can feed up to three boxes (single or dual tuner), but not four boxes. If you're talking about four actual discrete drops, you'll need a DP44 multiswitch.

If we're talking about, say, a 722 (or a 612) and three 222s (or even four 222s), you'd need a DP44 and a full rewire. A quad RG6 from the dish location to where the cable distro box is located now, one RG6 from the DP44 to the 722 (with a separator between the wall and the 722), and one RG6 chased to each of the 222s. The fourth RG6 is useful to use as an OTA carrier wire or a backup in case one of the active LNB-to-DP44 leads is damaged.

If we were talking about a pair of 722s, you wouldn't need the DP44, but would need a dual RG6 from the dish into the house, and each RG6 would go to a 722 and a separator. I'd still run quad RG6 from the dish into the house for the same reasons stated above.

 

[harshness]

I'm not sure why the size matters other than a bigger conductor is generally more durable.

Size matters due to the significantly greater ability of RG6 to carry power to the switchgear and LNB assembly. The ampacity (current carrying capability) of typical RG59 is about 63% that of RG6. With long runs, the voltage may be sapped before it makes it to the LNB.